Stanford Quarterback Ari Patu Enters Name Into Transfer Portal

Ari Patu was expected to be the starting quarterback for Stanford heading into the seaosn.

As expected, Stanford quarterback Ari Patu has entered his name into the transfer according to 247Sports' portal tracker. 

He joins running back E.J. Smith as the first two players to decide to leave Stanford following the first year of the Troy Taylor regime. Patu, who is listed as a junior on the team's website, was expected to be the starter heading into the season as he was the backup behind Tanner McKee the past couple of years and even started a game in McKee's absence when he was a freshman. 

The expectation for many heading into spring ball was that Patu would outduel Ashton Daniels and cement himself as the starting quarterback being that he was more experienced. Still, it became clear that Patu had fallen down the depth chart, which only became more evident when Taylor went out and brought in Syracuse transfer Justin Lamson to add another signal caller to the battle.

Stanford quarterback Ari Patu  / Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Daniels was obviously named the starter, and Lamson was the first quarterback off the bench when Taylor rotated in as the second gunslinger. It wasn't until Stanford was playing against Oregon State in their tenth game of the season, that Patu saw the field and it was at receiver for one play. He did get a chance to lead a couple of drives in the season finale against Notre Dame, as he went 3-of-6 for 37 yards while also rushing for 37 yards and losing a fumble. 

As a recruit, Patu was ranked as a three-star out of Folsom High School, and chose Stanford over schools like Arizona State, Georgia Tech, and Utah. 

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